page_title: Mary Smith Prize
section_title: Prize
hierarchical_section_title: Mary Smith Prize / Prize
caption_attribution_description: English: Mary Russell Smith (1842-1878), Springs Bounty. The Mary Smith Prize was established by her father William Thompson Russell Smith in her honor at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
context_page_description: The Mary Smith Prize was a prestigious art prize awarded to women artists by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. It recognized the best work by a Philadelphia woman artist at PAFA's annual exhibition — one that showed "the most originality of subject, beauty of design and drawing, and finesse of color and skill of execution". The prize was founded in 1879 by Russell Smith in memory of his deceased daughter, artist Mary Russell Smith. It was awarded from 1879 to 1968.
context_section_description: In the nineteenth century, women artists were rarely awarded major prizes. They were mostly limited to prizes designated for them. But rare exceptions included: Anna Elizabeth Klumpke, who won the 1889 Temple Gold Medal at PAFA; Mary Hazelton, who won the 1896 Hallgarten Prize at the National Academy of Design; and Cecilia Beaux, who won the 1899 Carnegie Prize at the Carnegie Museum of Art and the 1900 Temple Gold Medal at PAFA. 
  Initially, the Mary Smith Prize carried a cash prize of $100, which was increased to $300 in 1960. Cecilia Beaux had won this prize four times before she was awarded the Temple Gold Medal. 
  Other 19th-century prizes for women artists were the Dodge Prize at the National Academy of Design and the Shaw Prize at the Society of American Artists.
caption: Mary Russell Smith (1842–1878), Springs Bounty.
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